Changing of the Guard

     Friday, June 29, 10:00 a.m., the Bullochs arrived at the office with the Wirthlins in tow.  We have been looking forward to this event for several weeks with very mixed feelings.  We have really enjoyed working with the Bullochs and are sad to see them go, but had heard many good things about the Wirthlins and anxious to see if they were all true.  They are.  At 10:30 we shed a few tears and gave the Bullochs goodbye hugs then headed into the Stake High Council room where all the Zone Leaders and the Assistants to the President were waiting.  For more than an hour and a half, we listened to the Wirthlins share a little of their history, the rest of us shared a little of our history and the meeting was opened to questions.

     The Wirthlins are both from Salt Lake City.  He is Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's son.  They lived on the same street and she had to pass his house on the way to the corner grocery store where she bought Popsicles for five cents.  What she remembers is being afraid to pass the Wirthlin's house because of the big boy (he is a few years older than she) who chased her and threatened to take her Popsicle!  They got married after he served his mission in London, England.  He was a butcher in the family grocery business until he finished his degree in Agricultural Business Management and worked for Sysco and others.  She got a teaching degree and became a school counselor after getting her masters.  His work took them all over the world.  He went to work for the Church directing Facilities Management groups.  His last assignment was for 3 years in Germany.  They are both very outgoing, personable and pleasant people.  We are going to enjoy the last seven months of our mission as much as we enjoyed the first eleven.

     They invited us over for Sunday dinner--they didn't even have all of their boxes unpacked, but they were ready to entertain us and the APs.  Together she and I searched the kitchen for various utensils because it is a very large kitchen with lots of cupboards and she didn't have it all memorized yet.  We had roast beef and President Wirthlin share his secret formula for tender roast beef (marinated bottom round roast cooked slowly while you are gone to church); baked potatoes, Jello salad, corn and rolls with ice cream for dessert.  We had a wonderful time visiting and helping clean the kitchen until company arrived.  As we said goodbye, President presented us and the APs with a Lindt (or is it Linz?) orange chocolate bar direct from Germany.  I had forgotten how good real German chocolate is.

     Monday morning we had a short staff meeting then the Wirthlin's began their whirlwind tour of the mission.  They attended 13 district meetings, visited with every missionary, met some of the Stake officials in the mission, drove umpteen miles, and came home Saturday night still in good spirits.

Connecticut Wedding Reception

Our great-nephew, Benjamin Strobel, married Lecith Taylor in the Monterrey, Mexico LDS Temple the last day of May.  Ben's parents hosted a reception in New Haven, Connecticut, on the Yale campus.  With permission of President Bulloch, we drove to Connecticut Saturday, June 16, to attend the party.  What a fun time we had!

There were a lot of Mexican elements.

Luminarias lit the stairs to Kroon Hall which was on the 3rd floor of the building.

A Mariachi band joined the party!

They were really good! Everyone enjoyed clapping to the music and dancing.

The bride and groom here, enjoying the music.  Her brother is to the left of Lecith, and her parents are the tall man further left and the lady in the lavender dress.

Even the Karlinseys enjoyed dancing to the lively music!

Ben's sister, Sarah and her husband also enjoyed dancing.

Surprise! We didn't know that Eileen, the groom's aunt, and her son Marcos from Oakland,California, would be there. We had a lovely visit. 



 Sunday morning we went to church with the Strobels and the Taylors, then trooped over to the Strobel's for lunch. Scott took Bill on a tour of his wood shop and the house, showing all the wonderful projects he has made for the house. He has some beautiful wood that he has collected from the Yale campus, cured, then made bowls which he sells on the internet. We had fun visiting with Rebekah, the youngest daughter in the house, who is home from her freshman year at BYU, as well as Sarah, Ben, Lecith and her parents, Lynette and Scott (I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of them!) Turns out the bride's father is a great-great-grandson of Parley Pratt who was sent to Mexico to help establish the Mormon Colonies more than a hundred years ago. He had some fun stories to tell. We finally left in the middle of the afternoon to return to Utica. We were so happy to be part of this wonderful event.